Jonathan Berry
Office location: East Riverside (off the first floor common area)
cell: 239-7016
email: berry009@ua.edu
Office hours are by appointment
This course is for University Honors Program students.
This course is a broad study of the history, philosophy and religions of India, China and Japan. We will survey the major historical and religious events, along with the philosophic changes they brought about, in order to understand the development of Asian culture. Students will gain insight into differences and similarities of Asian worldviews. We will also develop a working comprehension of Nishitani's Religion and Nothingness.
At the conclusion of this course, students will have a better understanding of the differences and/or similarities of Eastern and Western worldviews. They will also understand how the religious and philosophic histories of India, China and Japan affected the development of their cultures. Students will have an in-depth understanding of Nishitani's Religion and Nothingness.
- Chinese Buddhist thought and the cultivation of wisdom
- The Religions of India
- Japan
Course outline
1. Class orientation - You are to keep an ACADEMIC-RESPONSE JOURNAL. You should record your thoughts about the reading material. You should have approximately 8 entries that are at least three pages in length by the semester's end. These journal entries are to be submitted via email 24 hours before the class session in which material is to be discussed. You will also have a midterm exam and write a formal paper that will be a response to or a grappling with some aspect of Religion and Nothingness. It is to be 8 to 10 pages in length. I will need to approve your thesis paragraph before you begin to work on it.
2. Reading Assignment 1
Think on These Things by Jiddu Krishnamurti
3. Discussion on Reading Assignment 1 and Academic Response Journal 1 due
4. Reading Assignment 2
When Things Fall Apart
5. Discussion on Reading Assignment 2 and Academic Response Journal 2 due
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
6. Reading Assignement 3
Religion and Nothingness
7. Discusssion on Reading Assignment 3 and general review of all topics. Academic Response Journal 3 due.
8. Midterm exam
9. Reading Assignment 4 and Academic Response Journal 4 due
Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
10. Discussion on Reading Assignment 4
11. Reading Assignment 5 and Academic Response Journal 5 due
Religion and Nothingness - Nishitani: "What is Religion?"
12. Disscusion on Reading Assignement 5
13. Reading Assignment 6 and Academic Response Journal 6 due
Religion and Nothingness - Nishitani: "The Personal and Impersonal in Religion" and "Nihility and Sunyata"
14. Discussion on Reading Assignment 6 and Academic Response Journal 7 due
15. Reading Assignment 7 and review for final paper
Religion and Nothingness - Nishitani:"The Standpoint and Sunyata"
16. Final paper and Academic Response Journal 8 due
The course grade will be divided as follows:
Daily participation/attendance 25%
Academic-Response Journal 10%
Midterm 25%
Final paper 40%
All assignments must be submitted and students are expected to complete exams by each due date. If you have missed any deadlines, contact the instructor immediately to arrange an alternate submission date. Your final grade will be lowered by 5 points for each late submission.
Attendace is manditory and counts as 25% of your final grade.
Chodron, Pema.When Things Fall Apart. Boston: Shambhala, 1997.
Krishnamurti, Jiddu. Think on These Things. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1989.
Nishitani, Keiji. Religion and Nothingness. Trans. Jan Van Bragt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice. New York: Weatherhill, 1999.
Tsunetomo, Yamamoto. Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. Translated by William Scott Wilson. New York: Kodansha International, 1979.
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The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
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